TIME

James Taylor was starting to become the new sound of rock at the age of 22. His music was described as a mix of mainstream pop, country, folk and the blues.

When this issue of TIME magazine was published, Washington was considered the world’s talkingest city with 70 telephones per 100 people. New York City was much lower with only 53.8 telephones per 100 people.

In South Viet Nam a holiday truce for the feast of Tet led to Vietnamese celebrators filling the streets with firecrackers. Shortly after the celebrations ended, the destruction began.

In 1948 the fifth ever winter Olympic games were held in the small resort town of St. Moritz (pop. 2,500). Thirty-one nations participated in a total of nineteen different sporting events.

This week we go back in TIME to January 26, 1970 when Nigeria was beginning to recover after a civil war, M.A.S.H was in theatres, tie-dyes were high fashion and the Kansas City Chiefs were Superbowl champions.

Many people viewed arcade games as an addictive and destructive social enemy that was spreading worldwide.

“Civilization is moved forward by restless people, not by those who are satisfied by things as they are.”

The man who has been chosen to lead that change and bring America out of its doldrums is Ronald Reagan. Seen as a reasonable man of integrity, someone who anyone would wish to succeed, he is a vision of the future of America.

At a time when it was thought that American men and women at arms may soon make it safely home, TIME followed a single platoon to see what it costs to bring peace through war.